She could see the twinkle of amusement in his eyes as he said that. She snorted.
“That again? If we’re going to be technically correct, Dot-R proposed to you.” Dot-R was already in Rosamund’s room, with her hand pressed against a power panel on the wall, recharging herself.
“Not interested,” Dot-R said at the same time Kodran said with a grin, “She is a bit young for me, so I’m going to stick with the heart’s fire that I’ve got.”
“That’s very romantic,” Rosamund scoffed.
“No, the romantic part comes tomorrow.”
“What happens tomorrow?”
“I shift into my Draell form and fly you to our…there is no word that translates, but it is like a honeymoon cabin, where we—” he glanced back at Dot-R. “—spend a couple of days and…get to know each other.”
“I know what you mean!” Dot-R yelled. “Despite what my parental units think, I am not a child!”
“A couple of days.” She took a deep breath. “When we come back, will the medical part of your mission be done?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“Then if I wanted to return to Agora, I could?”
A smug smile tugged at the corner of his full, sensuous mouth. “You will not want to. But yes, you could if you wished. But you won’t.”
“We’ll see about that.” Rosamund tried to sound stern, but failed. She leaned in and whispered to him, “Do not come and visit me in my dreams tonight.”
He bowed low. “As you wish. I will see you in the morning.” He turned and walked away, leaving her feeling achy and unsatisfied. She’d won, right? He was leaving her alone. He wasn’t trying to force this impossible relationship on her. For now.
Disgruntled, she showered and went to bed, where she tossed and turned for hours. Doubt gnawed away at her.
Kodran was hiding things from her – big, important things. And she was worried about that Draell woman with the scarred face and arms, and her child. She could not imagine Kodran hurting a woman and child – after all, he’d intervened on Agora and threatened a lion shifter who was abusing his family even when they were from a completely different species and had nothing to do with him.
But what were they so frightened of? Where were they now?
And why was Darfan so dead set against her being with Kodran? The Starcrossed Dating Agency’s sole purpose was to fix human females up with alien mates. Darfan, as CEO of the new branch of Starcrossed, would get an enormous bonus for any successful matings. So for him to be so adamantly against it, there must be a really good reason.
And…and…despite all that, the thought of flying back to Agora, or returning to Earth, without Kodran, made her heart throb painfully in her chest.
It felt like forever before she finally fell asleep. And immediately she woke up again and climbed out of bed.
No, this was a dream, because she was walking through the wall. And now she was in Kodran’s bedroom.
His room was much the same as his quarters on the spaceship, with the same enormous round bed draped in silvery silk, but here the floor was smooth flagstones. They felt chilly against the soles of her feet, and she thought absently how odd it was for a dream to be so detailed. She padded across to one of the gold-and-red woven carpets that were scattered across the floor.
Kodran was lying sprawled on his bed, naked. “What took you so long?” he asked her, sitting up with a grin.
“I told you not to do this!” she protested.
He gave her a mock-wounded look. “Do what? You said not to come to your room. It is you coming to me, and I did not cause it. You came to me because you wanted to.” A slow smile spread across his face. “And because you are welcome here.”
“Is this going to happen every night?” she asked him, pinching herself on the arm. “Ouch.”
“No, only when we sleep apart. You are my heart’s fire – we should never sleep apart. Why did you pinch yourself?’
“I wanted to see if I was really dreaming.”
He stood up and swept her into his arms. “You are, and it delights me that I am the one you dream of.”
“Well…if I’m only dreaming, then this isn’t real, right?” She looked him in the eyes. That meant she could say or do anything.
“I want you to kiss me again the way you did the other night. I want you to lick me.” She felt her cheeks coloring with embarrassment; she wasn’t used to telling a man what to do to her in bed.
Kodran didn’t seem to mind at all, though; in fact, quite the opposite. His eyes gleamed with pleasure, and he quickly set her down on the bed.
She was naked, as she had been when Kodran had come to her in her dreams. It was as though her subconscious mind wanted no barriers between them, not even clothes.
She should have felt self-conscious – she’d always been a big girl, and despite Talia’s relentless pep-talks, she still found it hard to think of herself as someone a man like Kodran could truly desire. She’d never really felt comfortable with her soft tummy and thick thighs.
But she didn’t feel shy, or want to cover her body with her arms and hands. From the way Kodran was eating her up with his eyes, his hungry gaze lingering lovingly on every curve, she knew he wanted her just as much as she wanted him.
Kodran put one knee on the edge of the bed, and the mattress dipped slightly under his weight. His shoulders were broad, his arms strong and well-muscled. His chest was lightly dusted with hair, and his stomach was flat and toned, his hips narrow. His cock was thickly erect, jutting up from a wiry nest of dark, curly hair. Rosamund swallowed, imagining the feel of it in her hand as she lapped precum from the head.
Kodran leaned over and lifted her chin until she met his gaze, and she realized she’d been starting at his thick, tempting erection. A blush heated her cheeks.
“Tell me what you want me to do to you,” he murmured. “I am yours to command, my heart’s fire.”
She felt tongue-tied again, despite the pleasant pulse of arousal that had started up between her legs. But she took a deep, shuddery breath and said, “I want you to kiss…kiss my breasts.”
With a growl, he dipped his head to oblige. He sucked as much of her breast into his mouth as he could, while he rolled the nipple of the other between his thumb and forefinger, pulling gently on it and rubbing it with the rough pad of his thumb. The motion caused a sweet answering tingle in her clit, and syrupy wetness trickled from her pussy.
All the while, his mouth played over her breast, suckling and pulling on the areola, grazing the nipple with his teeth. Rosamund held his head to her breast and moaned softly as arousal thrummed through her veins and pooled between her thighs.
Finally he lifted his head and gazed down at her with heavy-lidded, half-drunk eyes. He was breathing hard, and his cock was hot and stiff against her hip.
“Tell me what you want me to do to you,” he said again.
She reached for him. “Let me touch you,” she said. “Let me make you come.”
His eyes narrowed and a muscle twitched in his jaw. He shook his head, his eyes never leaving hers. “No. Tonight is for you. Tonight I will take my pleasure by giving you pleasure.”
He kissed her, hard and deep. His tongue slid against hers and tickled the roof of her mouth. He bit her lip then soothed the spot with his tongue before withdrawing from her again.
“Tell me what you want me to do to you.”
He held himself away from her as he waited for her to answer. His eyes were intense, a narrow ring of emerald green around pupils dilated with need. She could see that he was hungry to touch her, but he wouldn’t unless she asked him for what they both wanted.
“I want…” She hesitated.
He dipped his head again, his lips hovering a fraction of an inch from hers.
“Tell me,” he repeated.
Hot blood flooded to her cheeks and throat as she glanced away shyly and whispered, “I want you to kiss me like you did before…down there.”
Kodran groaned in
eager agreement. He rolled away from her, grabbed her ankles and yanked her to the very edge of the bed. He placed her feet on his shoulders so he could get deeper access to her glistening-wet pussy.
He lapped eagerly at her hot, slick flesh, humming with satisfaction as he savored the taste of her on his tongue and setting up a thrilling vibration against her clit. The rough hair of his beard abraded the sensitive skin of her inner thighs. She thought about how she’d wake up tomorrow morning with stubble rash in the most wicked places…but then that thought was snatched away as he probed her slit with his tongue, pressing deep then withdrawing.
As her core clenched, he dragged his mouth upwards and flicked his tongue hard and fast over her clit, shocking her body with a new erotic experience while her nerves were still locked in their reaction to the last. The sensation overload made her moan.
Kodran leaned in so her knees were over his shoulders, her heels against his back and pulling him closer. He buried his face in her wet folds, licking and sucking until she was groaning his name, hands clenched in the bedcovers.
As he ate her pussy, greedy in his desire for her, he worked his fingers under her ass-cheeks, digging into the plump flesh as he opened her further and pulled her closer.
The ache between her thighs became unbearable, getting tighter and more intense until it broke into spasms that rocked her body and made dark light explode behind her eyes.
She cried out again and again, her thighs locked against the sides of Kodran’s face as he licked her clenching pussy until the last of the aftershocks died away.
Then he crawled up the bed and cradled her in his arms, kissing her softly with lips that tasted of her own arousal. He held her against his chest and she listened to the solid, steady thump of his heart as she fell asleep.
Chapter Ten
The enormous pink sun warmed the morning air, and a gentle breeze ruffled the strange feathered tops of the silvery trees. Kodran’s parents and sister and Dot-R were all there to see them off.
Rosamund stood next to Kodran, but she could hardly look at him without blushing, remembering how bold she had been the night before.
Yes, it had been a dream, and she’d woken up in her own bed alone, but it had also been kind of real – she knew that Kodran remembered exactly what had happened as if they’d really been together.
But at the moment, his mind seemed to be on other things – bearing her away for a whole two days to…do what exactly? He hadn’t told her yet.
“Stand back,” Kodran advised her. “I get quite large when I shift.” He turned and jogged off until he was about fifty feet away from her.
At first nothing happened, except that the air around him seemed to shimmer, like a heat haze. He closed his eyes and threw back his head, flexing his muscles. Smoke curled from his nostrils. When he opened his eyes again, his pupils were reptilian slits. The scales at his temples spread over his face and washed down his arms. The bones in his face shifted oddly, pushing his mouth and nose out into a dragon’s muzzle, and spikes cascaded down his spine, shredding the black silk of his garments. Immense wings ripped from his back, beating the air, lifting him off his feet, and when he returned to the ground with an earth-shaking thump, it was in the form of an enormous red dragon.
He turned his diamond-shaped head on his long, serpentine neck and looked directly at Rosamund. Involuntarily, she took a step back. He was huge. Watching dragons flying from a distance was one thing – coming face to face with one on the ground was quite another. He was magnificent, yes, and beautiful, every scale a gleaming jewel, but he was also frightening. She could feel the heat radiating off his massive body.
But then he lowered his head so his muzzle was inches away from her face, slowly so as not to startle her. He huffed softly, a puff of warm air, and when she looked into the dragon’s eyes, she saw him there, looking back at her.
Kodran.
She couldn’t be afraid of him.
At his parents’ urging, she scrambled onto his back. She felt his powerful muscles bunch beneath her, and then his immense wings, their membranes like red silk, thrashed the air as they left the ground.
The climbed quickly into the sky, and the air became chilly, but Kodran’s reassuring bulk beneath her kept her warm. Beneath them, the town fell away like so many dolls’ houses, the castle at their center like something from a Disney movie.
They flew out over the alien forest, the wind from Kodran’s wings ruffling the silver fronds on the tops of the trees. Songbirds chirruped with alarm and scattered, and Rosamund spotted a squirrel-like creature with silky blue fur leaping from branch to branch before scrambling into a hole in a tree trunk. When they passed clearings in the silvery canopy, she caught glimpses of orange-red creepers twining themselves up the trees, heavy with warty-looking acid-green fruits.
About half an hour later, they landed in a big clearing. There was a cobblestone building there, looking a great deal like an Earth cottage. Apparently when his clan had landed on this planet a couple of months ago and built their first town, they’d also built this traditional Draell mating lodge, in anticipation of their clan leader finding a mate.
Kodran settled low to the ground, curling his tail against his flank to give Rosamund an easy way to clamber down from his scaly back. She found she was reluctant to lose his warmth, but she climbed down anyway, letting her fingers play over the glossy, gem-like surface of his scales.
As she stepped back from him, a shudder rippled over his enormous body. The membranes of his wings shivered, then folded like the world’s most complicated piece of origami and withdrew into his spine. His limbs shrank and reformed, and his scales were replaced with smooth, soft skin over taut muscle. Kodran the dragon was gone, replaced by Kodran the man.
Who was as naked as the day he was born.
* * * * *
Kodran stood there naked before the beautiful Rosamund. The door to the cabin was open, and they were alone. The things that he was going to show her…
A shrill cry came from the trees, answered by several more cries like it.
Dozens of little creatures that stood about as high as Rosamund’s knees dropped from tree branches and ran up to them. They wore loin-clothes woven from leaf-fronds, and nothing else. They were covered in long, silky white fur.
He felt a rush of frustration. He’d been waiting for this moment from the very first time he’d laid eyes on Rosamund, back on Agora.
“Leave us in peace, Feerbas!” he snapped at the little natives.
“Oh, no, Kodran, they’re adorable!” Rosamund said happily. She sank down onto the soft, mossy forest floor and let them swarm all over her. One of them played with a braid in her hair, then pointed to its own fur.
“You want me to braid your hair?” she said delightedly. She quickly braided its fur, her fingers flying.
Kodran groaned.
“I’m sure they all have places to go and berries to pick,” he said, walking over to her. “Don’t you, Feerbas?” He’d never been tempted to kick a small, furry animal before, but at the immediate moment, he could just barely restrain himself.
“Braeeeed heaaarrrr,” they clamored shrilly at Rosamund, ignoring him.
“Kodran, aren’t they the cutest thing you’ve ever seen? Don’t you just love them?” she cried.
He rolled his eyes. “You don’t want me to answer that right now.” He was painfully aroused and the need for her pulsed through his body, but the Feerbas weren’t going to let her go any time soon. Rosamund was utterly enraptured. She was showing them how to do different kinds of braids, and braiding flowers into their fur, which raised new cries of delight from them.
Watching her, he felt a little of his frustration easing up. The smile on her face was contagious. The childlike delight she took in the Feerbas and in making them happy, the clever way she braided their hair…it was a pleasure to watch.
The Feerbas, who were a bright, imitative species, began braiding each other’s fur, and for a minute he thou
ght he’d get Rosamund back.
Then she started playing some kind of odd game in which she slapped her palms against theirs and sang a song. Something about a woman named Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack, who had silver buttons, buttons, buttons, all down her back, back, back. Did Miss Mary Mack have a stutter? How would one open a dress with buttons down the back?
She was far too distracted to explain it to him.
“Fine, I will go prepare us a meal,” he said, and walked into the cabin.
“You’re the best!” she called after him, which filled him instantly with a glow of pride and happiness.
His heart’s fire thought he was the best!
He put on a loin cloth that was stashed in the bedroom closet, not bothering to get fully dressed.
He hoped to be removing the loincloth soon enough.
Then he rummaged through the cupboard and began pulling out bags of kmeer-flour and jars of spices. Draell men prided themselves on being excellent cooks, and it was most important that he showed his heart’s fire that he could care for her.
It was another hour before she came in, and he saw that her hair was now done up in about twenty braids with flowers woven into them.
“The Feerbas did that for me! Oh, my God, are they adorable,” she said as he set down plates of kmeer stew and piles of roasted vegetables on the big wooden table.
She chattered happily over dinner, until the end, when she pushed away her plate and said, “So, I never thought to ask, but why exactly did your group split off from Sekari’s clan? Why did you decide to colonize this planet?”
He hesitated for just a moment. “There have been several groups of Draell that have split off and colonized their own planets over the years,” he said carefully.
She raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t really answered her questions, and she knew it.
“The clan leaders tend to have strong personalities and opinions on how things should be run,” he said. “Sometimes they clash with the current Lord High Commander. When that happens, the clan leader can bow to the commander, which rarely happens, or fight to the death to challenge the commander for his position, which sometimes happens, or move to a new planet.”
The Dragon Claims His Treasure (Starcrossed Dating Agency) Page 7
